3 Days of Hearings Set in Fort Hood Shooting Case

The new judge in the Fort Hood shooting case is to decide this week whether to spare Maj. Nidal Hasan a possible death sentence and let him plead guilty in the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military installation.

Pretrial hearings are scheduled Wednesday through Friday so the new military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, can reconsider several defense requests previously rejected by the former judge.

Defense attorneys say Hasan wants to plead guilty to 13 counts of premeditated murder in the 2009 attack on the Texas Army post. But military rules prohibit a judge from accepting a guilty plea in a death penalty case.

Without a death penalty option, the punishment is life without parole - which Hasan already faces if convicted of the 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content, but the station is under no legal obligation to do so.
If you believe a comment violates the above rules, please use the Flagging Tool to alert a Moderator.
Flagging does not guarantee removal.

Multiple violations may result in account suspension.
Decisions to suspend or unsuspend accounts are made by Station Moderators.
Questions may be sent to comments@kbtx.com.
Please provide detailed information.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.